


The World Burnt

by polyymorph



Category: Fear The Walking Dead - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon Divergence, Canon mentions of abuse, Character Death Fix, Fix-It, M/M, Non-descriptive mentions of abuse, Slow Burn, Troy Otto Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-07 04:10:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17953334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polyymorph/pseuds/polyymorph
Summary: Having survived the dam explosion, Troy has to face the world ahead of him. The burnt, cruel war zone that he thought he was made for. He quickly realizes throughout his journey that he was privileged before to not know the threat of someone more dangerous than him.(Under heavy rewrites)





	The World Burnt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Troy has a lot on his plate, and even more to worry about, but first, he has to stay awake.

Troy hadn’t really known fear until it was standing in front of him in the form of a pissed off Mother Bear, with her cub watching in open mouthed shock. At first he didn’t hear anything, not even his own pounding heart as he fell to his knees after the first blow. He didn’t hear anything, didn’t feel the blood as it seeped from the side of his head and down his cheek. 

As he stared up at the woman everything hit him all at once, just a few, painfully silent seconds and the pain had set in. Burning, hot pain that shot throughout the left side of his body and spread like wildfire. 

It only lasted for a few seconds before the next blow hit, and he was rolling down the dirt hill and making friends with the rubble at the bottom. 

-

Troy had dealt with a lot of things in life, from his unstable mother and her questionable ways of parenting, to the abuse from his alcoholic father who used to shove him out of the house at four in the morning in just pajamas if he wasn’t already up and ready for the next five hours of labor. 

Even before he was pulled out of school, he had been used to the routine set onto him by the big Otto. He remembered when he had finally fallen numb to it;before, every morning at the ass crack of dawn he was hauling things twice his size to and fro, he had glassy eyes and would try to hide the shaking in his arms every time the man had glanced over at him. Troy used to pray for the times where his old man would curse an impressive string of words as he checked his watch and would tell the boy off to go get ready for school. To be ready in five minutes flat or they wouldn’t go at all and that meant working more, and a lot longer than they usually did on the weekends. 

By the time the school district suggested homeschooling Jake was long gone, no longer there to try and soften the blow of Jeremiah’s abuse. It had taken him years after his mother’s death before he realized he stopped holding back tears long ago because there were none left. He hadn’t cried at the funeral, mostly because his father had the tightest grip on his shoulder as if he was trying to ground himself, and not give comfort to the boy. Jake hadn’t cried at the funeral, either; something about being strong, carrying the burden while their father was in shambles. 

The drinking got heavier, the routine started to slip and for the first time in years Troy had slept in until the sun was burning hot behind his eyelids. The whole day and not a word from his father, though he found out relatively quickly that big Otto had spent his night, and most of the day on the bathroom floor ready for the next round of sudden dizziness that’d shake him to the core and make the oldest Otto hunch over on his knees. 

Every time the anniversary of his mother’s death rolled around, Troy Otto could count on seeing his father in the bathroom the next morning. 

It was the only week he could have a break and not be exhausted all the following day, so he did what any teenager would do. He stole the keys to the truck and went to go bother Mike. 

-

Troy hadn’t heard the explosions, or the loud groaning of the dam mere seconds before. What he  _ felt  _ was another story, the water rushing through the room and quickly soaking his clothes. His boots filling and  _ so much for the waterproofing,  _ suddenly the dirty water hit his nose and filled his mouth and he choked as he sprung awake. 

His head spun, his eyes darted around wildly like a deer caught in headlights. He looked around, finally noticing the ringing in his ears as if it had always been there. 

Troy wasn’t sure if it was from the bombs itself, or a permanent side effect because he finally pissed off the wrong person. 

Another wave of water hit his chest hard, knocking any previous air left in his lungs out and he remembered that  _ oh, I’m alive. I have to get out of here.  _ Troy stumbled to his feet, trying to be quick so he wouldn’t become trapped inside the room and inevitably drown to death. 

He climbed up the hill as the water followed like a plague on his ass, soaking through his boots once more as he grabbed the closed backpack full of wires and tape, and hauled ass for the metal bar steps. Troy knew he was panicking, the adrenaline telling him to hurry, while also making him slower as if unmotivated to keep them alive. As he reached the door, the water crashed into his back, and he let out something sounding like a cry and a groan as the metal bars dug into his stomach. 

Pushing the pain aside, he gasped again for air as he climbed. Troy could feel his knees shaking, the dirty water that had gotten into his mouth left a thin layer of dirt inside his mouth that felt like it would never go away. 

Troy nearly tripped over his own feet as he stepped onto the unstable metal grating of the floor, but instead he hurried away as the water crashed against the wall once more, before slowly seeping out. He coughed, gasped for clean air as the burning in his body intensified and he hurried down the way, stumbling upon a dead Proctor. 

Without a second thought, he picked the gun up from the strangers side and kept walking. He had no time for thinking, nor rationalizing. Troy had to get to the abandoned cars and leave.

He moved as fast as his aching body would take him, stumbling as he hurried towards the lot of cars, picking up anything useful from the littering bodies of the dam workers and gunmen. 

Sound seemed to finally come back to him with a dull, thudding ache that felt it would always be there as a reminder of this day. He heard the flowing of water, the loud crash of the dam becoming undone, and he looked at the bridge as he found a pathway to the cars. The cracking in the cement, ready to give of any second as water flowed violently just below. 

_ There he was,  _ Nick Clark, holding onto the side of the gate like a child lost in the view. John Proctor running with a limp for his life, Troy being unnoticed as he stood there.  _ Run, idiot _ , Troy kept screaming inside his head, his feet planted to the ground as he stared desperately. His mouth had gone slack, his hands shaking and  _ fear  _ shot up through his back, making him straighten up. 

Because wherever Nick Clark was, somewhere close by was the Mother Bear watching with a unnerving eye, ready to strike down on the next  _ threat.  _ That fear is what kept Troy planted to where he was, until he breathed in deeply and left him behind. 

He didn’t want to be there when Madison showed up like a hawk who’d finally spotted the unlucky rat that kept hiding in the burrow. If he followed the river by car, maybe he’ll find Nick’s body and take out the hissing dead male so he doesn’t have to suffer anymore. Troy knew the male would never rest peacefully if he killed anymore people, even when he’s dead and has no control over himself. 

Troy tried to push back any of the resurfacing memories, their peaceful moments in the car driving to and fro to the rage they both held, the arguments, the killings and than, the whispering after. The  _ I can’t go back to her,  _ to the teasing of  _ because you love me  _ and suddenly Troy wants to go back and drag the idiot by the ear off the bridge so they can leave together, Madison be damned. 

As he turns his head, he sees the bridge collapse in the distance behind him and suddenly, he knows all too well the mistake he’s made. 

 

-


End file.
